[/caption]Music is important. Music is a crucial part of life and growth. In all honesty I can't think of anyone that I like who doesn't listen to as much music as I do or more. It does't really matter what you listen to, it just matters that you listen. If you have the skill, make some music. Listen to the music for any time period and it will tell you much more about the events and people of the day than any history book. Music is important.
The first lullaby I can remeber came from the warm and loving voice of my dearest aunt bernadette. she would sing a song of empowerment called "Something Inside So Strong". I've been on school choirs since elementary school not because I'm a great singer, but because I love music and I can hold a tune. My mother loved old Mowtown and my dad loved old jazz, so there was an endless flow of both in my house growing up. My older sister dug R&B and my older brother was into Baltimore House and Hip Hop (back when it was still Rap). Even my little brother found his musical soul in current Hip Hop. I listened to all of it because it was all available for me to listen to.
However, from my tweens thru my teens, I was a rocker. I was a big fan of the 80's glam bands, plus some stuff that were a little heavier and some stuff that was a little lighter. I always had a radio (and eventually a boom box) in my room and I would let it play all night long. I would snooze deep with heavy metal playing in the background. I would only wake up on the few occasions one of my parents crept into my room to turn the music off. After a while they just let me be.
It became a need, I needed music to fall asleep or do anything productive while I was awake. Living on my own that was never a problem, I could blast tunes while studying, cleaning, writing and of course sleeping. Even when I had roommates, I could still play music to work or put me to sleep, just maybe play it quieter than I would ordinarily. But then serious relationships start, so I'm not just sharing an apartment with someone, I'm sharing a bedroom with someone. All of a sudden it occurs to me, what happens if this other person likes to sleep in silence? What if they can't read with music on or they have to turn it off to concentrate.
Sometimes that was the case, I had to get used to working or cleaning or such in silence, even though I never really liked it or felt I was as productive as I could have been. But I never got used to sleeping in silence. For a while I became a terribly light sleeper, every sound woke me up. Then a wonderful idea occurred to me; I can sleep with headphones on! Oh joy, everything is right in the world again!
Now, I'm in love with a music lover! He's a DJ and totally understands the need for a soundtrack to life. My baby is even a music lover, he likes for me to sing to him and dance with him, and sleeps better with music playing. I can't always have music playing when working around the house because I have to be able to hear the little one, but I think he sympathizes and so he makes his own music for me; beating his toys on his tray, singing and squealing at the top of his lungs and dancing and kicking his happy feet. His music is important too.
Like the sounds of history, the sounds of music in my life have changed drastically over my life, but it's always present and it's always reflective of the person I am that year, that week, that day. It's my soundtrack.
